Channel 4 announces record revenues

The broadcaster said its turnover for 2016 reached £995 million, up 1.6 per cent from £979 million in 2015

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Channel 4 has announced revenues of almost £1 billion for 2016.

The broadcaster said its turnover for 2016 reached £995 million, up 1.6 per cent from £979 million in 2015. Digital revenues grew 24 per cent to £102 million, making up 10 per cent of the total.

During the period, which has seen the TV advertising market decline by 4.2 per cent, Channel 4 invested a record £695 million on programming - ten per cent more than in 2015. £501 million of that was for British programmes produced across the UK.

However, chief executive David Abraham said the broadcaster had been impacted by Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

Speaking at Channel 4's annual meeting, Abraham said the result of the EU Referendum had forced Channel 4 to use £15 million of its £215 million content reserves to fund events such as the Rio Paralympics.

Abraham said the broadcaster would need to look at its spending as it looks forward, but no jobs are currently at risk and Channel 4 is "very confident" it can adjust spend patterns to cope with the uncertain climate. The broadcaster has put aside £35 million in cash reserves this year.

During 2016, Channel 4 worked with 317 suppliers, up from 295 in 2015, including 70 that were new to the broadcaster. Film4’s budget was increased from £15 million to £25 million.

In terms of viewing, Channel 4's main channel retained a 5.9 per cent share of viewing, while the overall portfolio was down marginally compared with the previous year (10.5 per cent and 10.6 per cent, per cent).

There was also a 21 per cent increase in All 4 views to 620 million, with almost 15 million users registered with Channel 4 at the end of the year including over half of all UK 16-34s.